SOSS - SEA Seminar | Accents and Immigrant Tolerance: Experimental Evidence from the Taiwanese in Taiwan and the US

Accents and Immigrant Tolerance: Experimental Evidence from the Taiwanese in Taiwan and the US

Does exposure to outgroup accents induce outgroup intolerance? While visual cues such as skin color, religious clothing, and surnames can influence outgroup attitudes, it is unclear whether auditory signals such as accents can affect intergroup relations in the same way. We propose that accents – as a marker of social identity – can accentuate ingroup-outgroup distinctions even between native speakers of a common language. In turn, this can contribute to discriminatory attitudes toward speakers of an outgroup accent. To test this argument, we field a survey experiment on two samples: (1) the Taiwanese in Taiwan (N=2088) and (2) the Taiwanese in the US (N=1008) – the largest survey of its kind to have ever been administered. We manipulate the type of Mandarin Chinese accent in both studies. While we find support for our argument in the first study, we find exposure to an outgroup accent fails to predict outgroup intolerance in the second study. This suggests that the political salience of accents may be limited by other contextual factors, such as intergroup contact, shared experiences, and/or group size. Our findings underscore the exclusionary effects of subtle linguistic signals on interpersonal communication.

SPEAKER

Amy Liu

Associate Professor, University of Texas
Director of Graduate Admissions and Placement
Co-Director of Politics of Race and Ethnicity Lab

Amy Liu is an Associate Professor in the Government Department and co-director of the Politics of Race and Ethnicity Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research and teaching focus on the intersection of ethnic politics, language politics, and migration politics – often through the lens of the Chinese language or the Chinese diaspora. Amy’s first book Standardizing Diversity: The Political Economy of Language Regimes examines how the recognition of lingua francas can be conducive for economic growth – in Asia generally and in Southeast Asia specifically. The second book The Language of Political Incorporation: Chinese Migrants in Europe looks at the linguistic networks of Chinese migrants and the implications for engagement with local authorities in Europe. She also coauthored a monograph with Jacob Ricks explaining the treatment of ethnic minorities in Southeast Asia. When not doing research, teaching, or managing the lab, Amy enjoys learning languages, traveling the world, and contributing to the economy by eating her weight in local foods.

MODERATOR

Jacob Ricks

Associate Professor of Political Science, SMU
Ian R. Taylor Visiting Fellow

Jacob Ricks is Associate Professor of Political Science at Singapore Management University. His research focuses on ethnic and national identities as well as the political economy of development in Southeast Asia, with a special emphasis on Thailand and Indonesia. He is co-author of Ethnicity and Politics in Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press 2022 - with Amy Liu) as well as author of articles in outlets such as World Politics, Political Behavior, World Development, and Pacific Affairs, among others.

Remarks: Due to limited seats, registration is on a first come first served basis.